Saturday, February 13, 2010

It’s NOT Just a ‘Common Sense’ Problem

An irate Staten Island mom blasted a grade school principal Wednesday for treating her son like a pint-sized Plaxico Burress after he brought a 2-inch-long toy gun to school. "This principal is a bully and a coward, and needs to be held accountable," said Laura Timoney, 44, after her teary fourth-grader was nearly suspended for playing with the tiny toy at lunch. "The school should be embarrassed. This is a common-sense issue."

Patrick Timoney, 9, was terrified when he was yanked into the principal's office to discuss the teeny-weeny plastic "weapon." "The gun was so little," the boy said. "I don't understand why the principal got so upset. I was a little nervous. They made me sign a statement."

Patrick and a friend were playing with Lego figures in the school cafeteria on Tuesday when he pulled out the faux machine gun and stuck it in the hands of his plastic police officer.

"I was in disbelief," the still-fuming mother said. "Why didn't anyone step up with an ounce of common sense and put an end to the harassment of my child?" Timoney said her boy loved the toy figure because her husband is a retired police officer.

The elder Patrick Timoney, a former 72nd Precinct cop, couldn't believe his son was nearly busted over something so obviously inauthentic. "It's a 2-inch gun," he said. "She went overboard. She should have said, 'Put the toys away,' and that would have been the end of it."

After a meeting between the principal and the parents, the boy was spared any disciplinary action. City school officials said Patrick agreed to leave the "gun" at home. "I'm never bringing a toy to school again," said Patrick, whose favorite subject is math. Laura Timoney remained upset. Her son, a typically eager student, asked to stay home yesterday because he thought the principal was mad at him. The mother said she expects an apology and may sue.

"The toy gun is not the issue," she said. "A lack of common sense is the issue."

If only this were just a ‘common sense’ problem. Unfortunately, it is much more than that. This is a worldview problem. You really cannot understand this problem until you become familiar with the the worldview that is propagated in the government-sponsored education establishment.

It is not even a safety-at-school matter. If it were, school officials would concentrate on real weapons, not Lego figure ‘guns.’

A key part of the education establishment worldview, which is actively propagated at most university schools of ‘education,’ is a hatred of firearms. You can see evidence of that in the fact that most universities do not allow even concealed-carry permit holders to carry on campus. There is no reasonable explanation for such a rule other than a systemic hatred of even the possibility of an armed citizen.

This is why even tiny, lego-sized, plastic representations of guns are treated this way at government schools. No one really believes that a lego-sized plastic gun replica could present any possible problem at a government school.

The real problem is that those who hold the worldview propagated by the education establishment tend to believe that children should not even be allowed to think about firearms. Thus, the control of lego-sized plastic replicas of guns is a form of thought-control.

Back in the day of our little school, which we called Sophia Academy, we actively celebrated the goodness of guns. Guns are interesting mechanically. Guns are fun to shoot at the target range. They can help you rid your environment of pesky things like squirrels and other such critters. In a worst-case scenario, guns can protect you from evil people.

Gun safety and maintenance was a regular part of our school’s curriculum, and it was a lot of fun. Guns are no more dangerous than automobiles – perhaps less so. Everyone should know how to use one, just in case it ever become necessary – rather like swimming.

But those holding the education establishment worldview could never agree with this, not because of any question of ‘common sense’ but because of that worldview. In that worldview children, and people in general, are things to be controlled by ‘experts.’ Integral to that control is the control of what people think.

It is exactly what you should expect when you allow statists to run schools.

1 comment:

One under current of the gov-ed complex is the conviction that the people are too stupid to be trusted with fire arms, or freedom for that matter. Only government is wise enough to handle, or to say who may handle, firearms or freedom. Look for any symbol of freedom and you will find that much of the gov-ed establishment hates it and does not trust those who would hold it dear.